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Springbrook Hills #5
The Playlist
When Zoe's best friend shows her the box of dreams they put together as kids, she would never have foreseen herself dumping Mr. Perfectly Fine and quitting her draining job.
But when she looks in that box and realizes her life isn't even close to where she envisioned she'd be when she was ten, she panics and implodes everything she knows.
When Zander Davidson realizes his little sister's best friend is finally single at the same time he is, he knows it's time. With the help of his sister (and her dad, AKA his boss), he makes a plan to become the king of her heart, including the road trip of a lifetime, and uses the Love Story Bucket List she made as a kid as his road map.
Along the way, Zee convinces Zoe to play pretend with him, but can he mastermind his way into keeping her forever and always?
The Playlist is a contemporary childhood friends-to-lovers romance. It's book five in the Springbrook Hills series but can be enjoyed as a standalone. HEA guaranteed. For mature listeners.
But when she looks in that box and realizes her life isn't even close to where she envisioned she'd be when she was ten, she panics and implodes everything she knows.
When Zander Davidson realizes his little sister's best friend is finally single at the same time he is, he knows it's time. With the help of his sister (and her dad, AKA his boss), he makes a plan to become the king of her heart, including the road trip of a lifetime, and uses the Love Story Bucket List she made as a kid as his road map.
Along the way, Zee convinces Zoe to play pretend with him, but can he mastermind his way into keeping her forever and always?
The Playlist is a contemporary childhood friends-to-lovers romance. It's book five in the Springbrook Hills series but can be enjoyed as a standalone. HEA guaranteed. For mature listeners.
10 pages, Audible Audio
First published March 26, 2023
2044 people are currently reading
32010 people want to read
About the author
Morgan Elizabeth
23 books6,442 followersMorgan is a born and raised Jersey girl, living there with her two boys, toddler daughter, and mechanic husband. She’s addicted to iced espresso, barbecue chips, and Starburst jellybeans. She usually has headphones on, listening to some spicy audiobook or Taylor Swift. There is rarely an in between.
Writing has been her calling for as long as she can remember. There’s a framed ‘page one’ of a book she wrote at seven hanging in her childhood home to prove the point. Her entire life she’s crafted stories in her mind, begging to be released but it wasn’t until recently she finally gave them the reigns.
I’m so grateful you’ve agreed to take this journey with me.
Writing has been her calling for as long as she can remember. There’s a framed ‘page one’ of a book she wrote at seven hanging in her childhood home to prove the point. Her entire life she’s crafted stories in her mind, begging to be released but it wasn’t until recently she finally gave them the reigns.
I’m so grateful you’ve agreed to take this journey with me.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,344 reviews
April 3, 2023
3.5 for taylor and taylor only.
the premise of this was great, amazing, astonishing. but the execution sadly did not hit for me. the references felt very forced and it made me cringe (which i did NOT WANNNAA DOOOO) and it felt like the couple already loved each other before i even got thrown into the story??? so it made it feel very insta love for me 😭😭😭😭😭
i love morgan. i love the spice. i love taylor swift. which is why this is a 3.5. but sadly everything else was a miss 3 screaming. crying. upsetting.
the premise of this was great, amazing, astonishing. but the execution sadly did not hit for me. the references felt very forced and it made me cringe (which i did NOT WANNNAA DOOOO) and it felt like the couple already loved each other before i even got thrown into the story??? so it made it feel very insta love for me 😭😭😭😭😭
i love morgan. i love the spice. i love taylor swift. which is why this is a 3.5. but sadly everything else was a miss 3 screaming. crying. upsetting.
April 3, 2023
author needs to learn other marketing techniques than just making taylor swift related tiktoks, especially if the ts references in the book are either horribly cringey or make absolutely zero sense !
April 2, 2023
This book overall was a disappointment.
The mmc really annoyed me. He just wouldn’t let things go. He be all up in her business and shit.
“I don’t know if I’m disappointed in her or for her.“ it’s not his life. He is too fucking pushy. Also the girl was very bland. She had no personality which I guess was the point of this book but even whenever she was doing fun things she was boring.
“You don’t like this version of me.” “What?”
“You said we have to work on bringing the fun Zoe back.” I blink at her.
“This version of me isn’t fun Zoe.” Exactly. He doesn’t like who she is.
“I swear it feels like I’m talking to a wall.” Fr this girl was so damn annoying.
The smut of this book did not match the mmc. Like I didn’t feel the dominance it was trying to show of him. But 20+ plages of smut for one scene (chefs kiss). This author knows what dirty talking is😗😫.
I was at 80% and I wanted to dnf this book so bad. Overall just sick of it. Also Zoe is an idiot. Like actually how can someone be that stupid? I haven’t read a book where I disliked both of the main characters in so long.
The mmc really annoyed me. He just wouldn’t let things go. He be all up in her business and shit.
“I don’t know if I’m disappointed in her or for her.“ it’s not his life. He is too fucking pushy. Also the girl was very bland. She had no personality which I guess was the point of this book but even whenever she was doing fun things she was boring.
“You don’t like this version of me.” “What?”
“You said we have to work on bringing the fun Zoe back.” I blink at her.
“This version of me isn’t fun Zoe.” Exactly. He doesn’t like who she is.
“I swear it feels like I’m talking to a wall.” Fr this girl was so damn annoying.
The smut of this book did not match the mmc. Like I didn’t feel the dominance it was trying to show of him. But 20+ plages of smut for one scene (chefs kiss). This author knows what dirty talking is😗😫.
I was at 80% and I wanted to dnf this book so bad. Overall just sick of it. Also Zoe is an idiot. Like actually how can someone be that stupid? I haven’t read a book where I disliked both of the main characters in so long.
April 4, 2023
taylor sweetie, i am so sorry.
December 6, 2023
DNF at 43%.
The guy was too much of a red flag for me...
The guy was too much of a red flag for me...
March 30, 2023
3.5 stars
this was super cute - i am not the most educated swiftie so i probably missed lots of easter eggs but the swiftie references were adorable. this would make a great beach read.
zander is zoe’s best friend’s brother and he’s always had a thing for her but they’ve always been dating people when the other is single and so on. over the years, he’s seen her hide her real self so when he sees the spark of the old her when she breaks up with her boring boyfriend, he plans the road trip he promised her when she was 12 to take his chance with her.
i enjoyed so much of this - this was an adorable friends to lovers story and i loved hearing zander recount all the times he fell in love with her over the years. the spice was SPICING. and zander was a great hero.
this fell flat a little for me with zoe. my pet peeve in books is when the hero is really amazing but the fmc just keeps questioning him. it felt like they had the same conversation over and over and there was no reason for zoe not to trust him. her stubbornness had me rooting against her at points.
it is super cute and spicy and if that’s not a pet peeve of yours, i think you might love this because there are so many swoon-worthy moments and gestures. it just would’ve been better if zoe hadn’t been quite so stubborn for me.
this was super cute - i am not the most educated swiftie so i probably missed lots of easter eggs but the swiftie references were adorable. this would make a great beach read.
zander is zoe’s best friend’s brother and he’s always had a thing for her but they’ve always been dating people when the other is single and so on. over the years, he’s seen her hide her real self so when he sees the spark of the old her when she breaks up with her boring boyfriend, he plans the road trip he promised her when she was 12 to take his chance with her.
i enjoyed so much of this - this was an adorable friends to lovers story and i loved hearing zander recount all the times he fell in love with her over the years. the spice was SPICING. and zander was a great hero.
this fell flat a little for me with zoe. my pet peeve in books is when the hero is really amazing but the fmc just keeps questioning him. it felt like they had the same conversation over and over and there was no reason for zoe not to trust him. her stubbornness had me rooting against her at points.
it is super cute and spicy and if that’s not a pet peeve of yours, i think you might love this because there are so many swoon-worthy moments and gestures. it just would’ve been better if zoe hadn’t been quite so stubborn for me.
September 26, 2023
TWO STARS ONLY BECAUSE I DIDN'T DNF. The more I think about this book, the more unhappy I am that I ended up finishing it instead of DNFing it. The longer the book went on, the more unhappy I became (and I was pretty unhappy with it in the first 30% of the book so that says something).
Let me be clear: I do not like to drag books. I like to be positive in general, but I have lots of thoughts, and most of them are not good ones.
I will start with the things that I liked:
-The plot. It had SO MUCH POTENTIAL! I’m a Swiftie! I loved the idea of a Taylor Swift bucket list.
-Zander was swoony + the spice was good.
-Zander tried really hard to get Zoe’s heart. He was assured. He was already in love. He had the support of everyone back home, and he took his shot, and it was mostly fun to experience. Mostly. But we’ll get to that.
-The Taylor Easter Eggs – they were fun, but they didn’t always hit the mark. As a Swiftie since I was 15 (that’s 17 years for those of you that are counting), this book could’ve been a love letter to Taylor.
-That this whole story is based on a MASH from when Zoe and Luna were ten was kind of sweet!
Okay. Now to the (what will end up being very long) list of things I did not like:
-Holy crap, the writing in this book was terrible.
-First, there were so many confusing conversations and I could never keep straight who was talking and who was responding. The author would horrendously attach thoughts of the character’s POV to the dialogue of someone else. Example, chapter from Zander’s POV:
“Did he say something?” She sighs. (THIS IS ZANDER ASKING A QUESTION!)
“It’s not a big deal, Zander.” She refuses to answer, but the fact that neither confirms nor denies it tells me so much.
“She sighs.” THIS IS ZANDER’S LINE, WHY IS ZOE ANYWHERE NEAR IT? All you had to do was press enter, or add a “Zander asked,” and the reader would be able to track the dialogue SO MUCH BETTER.
Another example, chapter from Zander’s POV:
“I was so grounded for that.” I shrug and smile. (THIS IS ZOE’S LINE)
“I deserved it. I was bugging you, and you told me to stop multiple times politely. I didn’t.”
….
“What happened to her?” I can hear her sigh even over the wind from the open windows. (ZANDER’S LINE)
“She grew up, Zee.” I shake my head. (ZOE’S LINE)
“No, she disappeared.”
This happened at least 17 times (I started highlighting the instances of this happening on page 149, so there are definitely more of these examples in the first part of the book).
-Either the author never re-read this after the editor got ahold of it, or the editor should have more training in the world of editing, because this book NEEDED MORE ALPHA/BETA/EDITING BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED. There were formatting errors, there were confusing sentences, there were commas where there should have been periods, there were no periods at all.
In the plot...
-The whole premise was The Taylor Swift Bucket List. The FMC didn’t *get it* until the MMC told her he was doing her bucket list items IN THE LAST CHAPTER PRIOR TO THE FIVE (???????????????) EPILOGUES.
-Zander’s whole motivation is that he’s loved Zoe his whole life. Why did he interrupt her every time she tried to argue with him? “No, Zoe. I know you.” That’s a great plot device……..once in a book. Not in every chapter. Not every time you’re trying to prove something to her. The author TELLS US that Zander knows Zoe, but the only way she proved it was by telling it over and over again until IDK WE GOT IT, I GUESS? Why not…….. just throwing this out there…….. try showing us?
-Zoe’s only thoughts were “I have to do something respectable and make the responsible/safe choice” or “I really like it when Zander is in control.” Her only emotions were fear, anger, or… relaxed from all the Big O’s? She was a one-dimensional character at best, and a terrible excuse for a Taylor Swift fan at worst.
-How many times did Luna have to “give her brother something special that will help him in his attempts to win Zoe’s heart?” How many times is that appropriate? If you answered that the appropriate amount of times is once, you’d be correct. If you guessed that it happened three times, you’d also be correct.
-The author didn’t connect the Bucket List to Zander at all. We needed to see him make some plans, decide which items he was going to accomplish in which locations. Watch him check off items on the bucket list and know that he connected it to specific circumstances. I feel like that could’ve helped SHOW US how much he loved her (the author TOLD US, remember?). After Zoe’s initial review of her bucket list, we never saw it again. If the author had shown us Zander USING the bucket list, then we would’ve been built up to the big LAST DAY OF THE ROAD TRIP and the great declaration of love. We didn’t get that. We didn’t get any tension, and we didn’t get any longing, hope, or any other emotion really, either.
-Zander talked Zoe into having sex with her by telling her to “play pretend.” The more I think about this decision, the creepier I feel about it.
Other general complaints from me:
-The spice was good but repetitive?
-The chapters weren’t named appropriately. And the uses of TS lyrics were… not impressive.
-THE FRIEND GROUP. If you promote the story as a connected standalone, please do not drop the previous 4 couple’s names in the span of one page and expect me to keep them straight. Either slowly introduce them, or don’t make allllll of them important to understanding the story. I needed a character map for one bar scene that was unnecessarily confusing. And also, you spoiled the plots of the other stories by giving us a paragraph summary of each love story. Now I have zero desire to pick up their books (and also, if this is your 12TH BOOK!!!!! and I have this many problems, I’m not reading them anyways, but this deterred me).
This book gets two stars because I finished it (reserve 1 stars for DNF), but as you can tell, this was a hugely flawed book in my opinion.
Let me be clear: I do not like to drag books. I like to be positive in general, but I have lots of thoughts, and most of them are not good ones.
I will start with the things that I liked:
-The plot. It had SO MUCH POTENTIAL! I’m a Swiftie! I loved the idea of a Taylor Swift bucket list.
-Zander was swoony + the spice was good.
-Zander tried really hard to get Zoe’s heart. He was assured. He was already in love. He had the support of everyone back home, and he took his shot, and it was mostly fun to experience. Mostly. But we’ll get to that.
-The Taylor Easter Eggs – they were fun, but they didn’t always hit the mark. As a Swiftie since I was 15 (that’s 17 years for those of you that are counting), this book could’ve been a love letter to Taylor.
-That this whole story is based on a MASH from when Zoe and Luna were ten was kind of sweet!
Okay. Now to the (what will end up being very long) list of things I did not like:
-Holy crap, the writing in this book was terrible.
-First, there were so many confusing conversations and I could never keep straight who was talking and who was responding. The author would horrendously attach thoughts of the character’s POV to the dialogue of someone else. Example, chapter from Zander’s POV:
“Did he say something?” She sighs. (THIS IS ZANDER ASKING A QUESTION!)
“It’s not a big deal, Zander.” She refuses to answer, but the fact that neither confirms nor denies it tells me so much.
“She sighs.” THIS IS ZANDER’S LINE, WHY IS ZOE ANYWHERE NEAR IT? All you had to do was press enter, or add a “Zander asked,” and the reader would be able to track the dialogue SO MUCH BETTER.
Another example, chapter from Zander’s POV:
“I was so grounded for that.” I shrug and smile. (THIS IS ZOE’S LINE)
“I deserved it. I was bugging you, and you told me to stop multiple times politely. I didn’t.”
….
“What happened to her?” I can hear her sigh even over the wind from the open windows. (ZANDER’S LINE)
“She grew up, Zee.” I shake my head. (ZOE’S LINE)
“No, she disappeared.”
This happened at least 17 times (I started highlighting the instances of this happening on page 149, so there are definitely more of these examples in the first part of the book).
-Either the author never re-read this after the editor got ahold of it, or the editor should have more training in the world of editing, because this book NEEDED MORE ALPHA/BETA/EDITING BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHED. There were formatting errors, there were confusing sentences, there were commas where there should have been periods, there were no periods at all.
In the plot...
-The whole premise was The Taylor Swift Bucket List. The FMC didn’t *get it* until the MMC told her he was doing her bucket list items IN THE LAST CHAPTER PRIOR TO THE FIVE (???????????????) EPILOGUES.
-Zander’s whole motivation is that he’s loved Zoe his whole life. Why did he interrupt her every time she tried to argue with him? “No, Zoe. I know you.” That’s a great plot device……..once in a book. Not in every chapter. Not every time you’re trying to prove something to her. The author TELLS US that Zander knows Zoe, but the only way she proved it was by telling it over and over again until IDK WE GOT IT, I GUESS? Why not…….. just throwing this out there…….. try showing us?
-Zoe’s only thoughts were “I have to do something respectable and make the responsible/safe choice” or “I really like it when Zander is in control.” Her only emotions were fear, anger, or… relaxed from all the Big O’s? She was a one-dimensional character at best, and a terrible excuse for a Taylor Swift fan at worst.
-How many times did Luna have to “give her brother something special that will help him in his attempts to win Zoe’s heart?” How many times is that appropriate? If you answered that the appropriate amount of times is once, you’d be correct. If you guessed that it happened three times, you’d also be correct.
-The author didn’t connect the Bucket List to Zander at all. We needed to see him make some plans, decide which items he was going to accomplish in which locations. Watch him check off items on the bucket list and know that he connected it to specific circumstances. I feel like that could’ve helped SHOW US how much he loved her (the author TOLD US, remember?). After Zoe’s initial review of her bucket list, we never saw it again. If the author had shown us Zander USING the bucket list, then we would’ve been built up to the big LAST DAY OF THE ROAD TRIP and the great declaration of love. We didn’t get that. We didn’t get any tension, and we didn’t get any longing, hope, or any other emotion really, either.
-Zander talked Zoe into having sex with her by telling her to “play pretend.” The more I think about this decision, the creepier I feel about it.
Other general complaints from me:
-The spice was good but repetitive?
-The chapters weren’t named appropriately. And the uses of TS lyrics were… not impressive.
-THE FRIEND GROUP. If you promote the story as a connected standalone, please do not drop the previous 4 couple’s names in the span of one page and expect me to keep them straight. Either slowly introduce them, or don’t make allllll of them important to understanding the story. I needed a character map for one bar scene that was unnecessarily confusing. And also, you spoiled the plots of the other stories by giving us a paragraph summary of each love story. Now I have zero desire to pick up their books (and also, if this is your 12TH BOOK!!!!! and I have this many problems, I’m not reading them anyways, but this deterred me).
This book gets two stars because I finished it (reserve 1 stars for DNF), but as you can tell, this was a hugely flawed book in my opinion.
March 30, 2023
No just bc the cover is cute doesn’t mean the book is going to be good.
June 25, 2023
I absolutely judged and fell for the book by its cover here.
Tis the season for revenge was my first book with this author and I decided to check this out bc it seemed like a cute read. I just didn’t connect so much with it and the characters.
Zoe was constantly questioning Zander’s feelings towards her and the back and forth second guessing dragged it on longer than it should’ve been. Also, while it’s clear they had feelings for each other when they were younger, I felt like Zander’s claim in loving her later on was completely rushed. Insta-love vibes were there for sure.
The epilogue that took place years after how it ended is really why this is getting 3 stars (other than the initial cute feels this give) as I loved the progression in time.
Tis the season for revenge was my first book with this author and I decided to check this out bc it seemed like a cute read. I just didn’t connect so much with it and the characters.
Zoe was constantly questioning Zander’s feelings towards her and the back and forth second guessing dragged it on longer than it should’ve been. Also, while it’s clear they had feelings for each other when they were younger, I felt like Zander’s claim in loving her later on was completely rushed. Insta-love vibes were there for sure.
The epilogue that took place years after how it ended is really why this is getting 3 stars (other than the initial cute feels this give) as I loved the progression in time.
April 8, 2023
Let this be a reminder that if you can read it on kindle unlimited read it there first buy the physical copy after.
March 31, 2023
i really need to learn to stop reading books by authors who i’ve disliked/DNF’d in the past… all i can say is i was conned by the taylor swift references
- zander was a red flag. he was controlling and obnoxious. some of his boy obsessed moments were sweet but it got to a point where he was just so hypocritical and weird… and then he would be saying stuff like “tell me what’s wrong or i’m gonna get angry” “do this or i’m gonna get mad” like EW!! that is gross. and i know in childhood friends to lovers books, a big aspect is the fact that they have known each other for so long and have that deeper understanding, but the way it was used against zoe in this book felt so off. i would absolutely lose my mind if i had to spend years in a relationship with a man who thinks he knows me so well that he feels he has the right to butt in and interject on everything that “doesn’t sound like me.” also what grown man is named zander… literally grow up
- zoe wasn’t that great either. she was very annoying and yes.. boring. her entire personality was “i’m an only child, you have siblings so you wouldn’t get it” OMG SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! and the back and forth was excruciating. one minute she would accept zander’s declaration that they are real, and then the next she was all “this isn’t real. i need space” what?? but don’t worry, she had a complete personality transplant in the last 2 chapters of the book where she actually seemed like a person and not a boring, nervous robot. too bad it was only 50 something chapters too late for me to care…
- also the engagement was way out of the blue. this guy got kicked down about a million times by zoe’s indecisive ass and so he decides the best course of action is a marriage proposal?? i mean ofc she says yes cuz nothing about this book makes sense. they had been romantically involved for a week when he proposed and i know they knew each other for 30 years before that but still, it is absolutely wild to me not only that zander fought so hard, but also that she accepted the proposal when she spent 90% of the book being so scared of the idea of them being a real couple
- other than that the writing was not good. it was cringe and felt way to immature for a couple of thirty year olds… and the smut- which i thought would be this books saving grace- was off. it was very repetitive, as was the rest of this book. there were also hints of subtle misogyny that i didn’t appreciate but i won’t get into that
in conclusion: the only things that got me through this book (and gave it my generous 2 star rating) were the taylor references and the moments of boy obsessed in the beginning before i realized how much of a freak zander is.. also there was absolutely no need for seven separate time skips at the end. i usually look forward to the ‘married and with kids’ part of the epilogue, but this was so unnecessary and i didn’t care at all.
- zander was a red flag. he was controlling and obnoxious. some of his boy obsessed moments were sweet but it got to a point where he was just so hypocritical and weird… and then he would be saying stuff like “tell me what’s wrong or i’m gonna get angry” “do this or i’m gonna get mad” like EW!! that is gross. and i know in childhood friends to lovers books, a big aspect is the fact that they have known each other for so long and have that deeper understanding, but the way it was used against zoe in this book felt so off. i would absolutely lose my mind if i had to spend years in a relationship with a man who thinks he knows me so well that he feels he has the right to butt in and interject on everything that “doesn’t sound like me.” also what grown man is named zander… literally grow up
- zoe wasn’t that great either. she was very annoying and yes.. boring. her entire personality was “i’m an only child, you have siblings so you wouldn’t get it” OMG SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! and the back and forth was excruciating. one minute she would accept zander’s declaration that they are real, and then the next she was all “this isn’t real. i need space” what?? but don’t worry, she had a complete personality transplant in the last 2 chapters of the book where she actually seemed like a person and not a boring, nervous robot. too bad it was only 50 something chapters too late for me to care…
- also the engagement was way out of the blue. this guy got kicked down about a million times by zoe’s indecisive ass and so he decides the best course of action is a marriage proposal?? i mean ofc she says yes cuz nothing about this book makes sense. they had been romantically involved for a week when he proposed and i know they knew each other for 30 years before that but still, it is absolutely wild to me not only that zander fought so hard, but also that she accepted the proposal when she spent 90% of the book being so scared of the idea of them being a real couple
- other than that the writing was not good. it was cringe and felt way to immature for a couple of thirty year olds… and the smut- which i thought would be this books saving grace- was off. it was very repetitive, as was the rest of this book. there were also hints of subtle misogyny that i didn’t appreciate but i won’t get into that
in conclusion: the only things that got me through this book (and gave it my generous 2 star rating) were the taylor references and the moments of boy obsessed in the beginning before i realized how much of a freak zander is.. also there was absolutely no need for seven separate time skips at the end. i usually look forward to the ‘married and with kids’ part of the epilogue, but this was so unnecessary and i didn’t care at all.
March 31, 2023
Me, a swiftie, did not like this book. The references and Easter eggs were cute but I was not about how freaking corny it was and I thought the conflict between the main characters was not plausible.
I wanted to love this book but I just didn’t. 🌽🌽
Coming back to say I did find Zoe’s third life crisis super relatable, but come on sis why can’t you trust this man?? Also he gave me the ick many times lol
I wanted to love this book but I just didn’t. 🌽🌽
Coming back to say I did find Zoe’s third life crisis super relatable, but come on sis why can’t you trust this man?? Also he gave me the ick many times lol
April 6, 2023
Great Taylor Swift references , I’d comment on the plot if there was one .
March 31, 2023
let me tell y’all, this book literally had me twirling my hair, silently screaming and kicking my feet like a CHILD. i love that taylor swift was the inspiration for it. friends to lovers is a trope i really enjoy, and this was an amazing representation of it. especially childhood friends to lovers! zander is the freaking blueprint of a man and anything less is unacceptable. also the spice and multiple epilogues were both *chef’s kiss*
one thing that had me slightly irritated was how dense zoe seemed sometimes. like girl you are thirty something years old CAN’T YOU SEE THIS MAN IS THE BIGGEST SIMP FOR YOU AND IS GIVING YOU EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED. if zoe were a real life person i would literally scream in her face how annoying it was to hear her say “what?” so many times. like you are a grown up use your big girl ears and words.
but overall i really enjoyed this book! read it if you love spicy friends to lovers and taylor swift🤍
one thing that had me slightly irritated was how dense zoe seemed sometimes. like girl you are thirty something years old CAN’T YOU SEE THIS MAN IS THE BIGGEST SIMP FOR YOU AND IS GIVING YOU EVERYTHING YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED. if zoe were a real life person i would literally scream in her face how annoying it was to hear her say “what?” so many times. like you are a grown up use your big girl ears and words.
but overall i really enjoyed this book! read it if you love spicy friends to lovers and taylor swift🤍
April 3, 2023
i liked the taylor references and the taylor songs for the chapter headings but did not like the rest 😭
April 19, 2023
1.5 ⭐️ i’m free!!!
I was so excited for this book especially when I heard about the Taylor references, and let me tell you even that couldn’t save this book. I am so sad and disappointed! let’s just jump right in….
Zander was driving me nuts, he just woke up one day and decided he was in love with his sister’s best friend his whole life, and NOW was the time to “win her over”.
This all begins while Zoe (sisters best friend) was there having no idea what was going on, no opinions on the matter, and seemingly no awareness. She was the epitome of flat character and it just made me feel bad for her, especially when she was acting dumb and like letting obvious things go over her head. Zander would say something kind of out of pocket and she’s like “okay”, like girl?? you’re described as being stubborn and snarky but can’t even tell him not to throw your scrunchie out the window??? (let’s not even get into that part or i’ll scream).
Don’t get me started on the pacing of the relationship development either. They just have never been together and then with no communication, never even telling each other they are attracted to each other, have continuous sex. Sex with no chemistry i’ll add, and for no reason.
Also there were like 4 epilogues and it was exhausting.
The Taylor references started out cheesy but cute and mid way through I was annoyed by them which was sad bc it just wasn’t explained even though it was dual POV, and easily could have been.
Idk I was just so upset that this cute storyline wasn’t hashed out like at all, it felt chaotic the relationship lacked depth, the characters fell flat, and the conflicts felt wrong.
I did tear up a bit at the climax but by the epilogue I was over it and had lost all desire to care.
I was so excited for this book especially when I heard about the Taylor references, and let me tell you even that couldn’t save this book. I am so sad and disappointed! let’s just jump right in….
Zander was driving me nuts, he just woke up one day and decided he was in love with his sister’s best friend his whole life, and NOW was the time to “win her over”.
This all begins while Zoe (sisters best friend) was there having no idea what was going on, no opinions on the matter, and seemingly no awareness. She was the epitome of flat character and it just made me feel bad for her, especially when she was acting dumb and like letting obvious things go over her head. Zander would say something kind of out of pocket and she’s like “okay”, like girl?? you’re described as being stubborn and snarky but can’t even tell him not to throw your scrunchie out the window??? (let’s not even get into that part or i’ll scream).
Don’t get me started on the pacing of the relationship development either. They just have never been together and then with no communication, never even telling each other they are attracted to each other, have continuous sex. Sex with no chemistry i’ll add, and for no reason.
Also there were like 4 epilogues and it was exhausting.
The Taylor references started out cheesy but cute and mid way through I was annoyed by them which was sad bc it just wasn’t explained even though it was dual POV, and easily could have been.
Idk I was just so upset that this cute storyline wasn’t hashed out like at all, it felt chaotic the relationship lacked depth, the characters fell flat, and the conflicts felt wrong.
I did tear up a bit at the climax but by the epilogue I was over it and had lost all desire to care.
March 31, 2023
Okay everyone should read this book, but if you’re a swiftie you REALLY need to read this book.
I was terrified it would be cheesy because of the Taylor Swift mentions. I knew it would either be cute and subtle or just really unrealistic. Thankfully, it was extremely cute.
I kind of liked how we get Zee and Zoe later in life and we hear about their time as kids but in pieces. I like how we jumped right into Zee being ready to be with her and making moves. Usually I like to have some build up first, but it felt realistic in this one because they clearly had so much history and we did get flashbacks throughout.
Zoe was a bit annoying at parts when she just wouldn’t see what was right in front of her and realize she’d been living someone else’s life. But I get why it was hard for her. When you have these ideas ingrained into your head it’s hard to get them out.
The list with the songs and the actions from each one made me so happy and the way he made all of it happen. UGH CRYING. Squeezing her hand three times?! The seven quote from her dad ‘I love you to the moon and to Saturn’ I sobbed.
All the small taylor references just made it so cute and I loved hunting for them.
Zee and Zoe were obviously perfect together and I just loved him so much. He was so gone for her and it made me so happy.
I also loved the little extended epilogue so we got to see their story all the way out past kids and stuff. It was cute cute cute.
5 stars. Probably one of my favorite Morgan Elizabeth books so far!
I was terrified it would be cheesy because of the Taylor Swift mentions. I knew it would either be cute and subtle or just really unrealistic. Thankfully, it was extremely cute.
I kind of liked how we get Zee and Zoe later in life and we hear about their time as kids but in pieces. I like how we jumped right into Zee being ready to be with her and making moves. Usually I like to have some build up first, but it felt realistic in this one because they clearly had so much history and we did get flashbacks throughout.
Zoe was a bit annoying at parts when she just wouldn’t see what was right in front of her and realize she’d been living someone else’s life. But I get why it was hard for her. When you have these ideas ingrained into your head it’s hard to get them out.
The list with the songs and the actions from each one made me so happy and the way he made all of it happen. UGH CRYING. Squeezing her hand three times?! The seven quote from her dad ‘I love you to the moon and to Saturn’ I sobbed.
All the small taylor references just made it so cute and I loved hunting for them.
Zee and Zoe were obviously perfect together and I just loved him so much. He was so gone for her and it made me so happy.
I also loved the little extended epilogue so we got to see their story all the way out past kids and stuff. It was cute cute cute.
5 stars. Probably one of my favorite Morgan Elizabeth books so far!
April 9, 2023
you could just read any chapter and only that chapter and you'd have read the whole book. the taylor references were not enough to make me like this and since i was already starting to dislike it when the (rumoured) news hit that my parents have divorced, i stopped caring - if i could have cared any less than i already did
April 25, 2023
So cute 💓💓💓
All the Taylor references made my heart SOAR.
All the Taylor references made my heart SOAR.
March 29, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
The premise and plot of this book is SO fun but the execution wasn’t what I expected.
Taylor swift inspired road trip between 2 childhood friends who are madly in love with each other but haven’t admitted it yet. There’s also sister best friend/best friends brother trope as well.
All the Taylor references and Easter eggs were AMAZING and it spoke to my swiftie soul. Plus the spice was HOT and I loved Zander as a hero!
But there were a few things I just didn’t love:
Zoe was acted very aloof and oblivious the whole time which got on my nerves. Zander spend the whole book trying to get her to chose him and realize they’re soulmates and it took wayyyy too long for her to understand what he was doing. It was obvious from the very beginning. I needed more reciprocation from Zoe throughout the whole book. I coidnve also gone without the plot where Zoe just breaks yo with her boyfriend and a week later is with Zander? Just make her single from the very beginning.
Thank you to Morgan and her ARC team for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The premise and plot of this book is SO fun but the execution wasn’t what I expected.
Taylor swift inspired road trip between 2 childhood friends who are madly in love with each other but haven’t admitted it yet. There’s also sister best friend/best friends brother trope as well.
All the Taylor references and Easter eggs were AMAZING and it spoke to my swiftie soul. Plus the spice was HOT and I loved Zander as a hero!
But there were a few things I just didn’t love:
Zoe was acted very aloof and oblivious the whole time which got on my nerves. Zander spend the whole book trying to get her to chose him and realize they’re soulmates and it took wayyyy too long for her to understand what he was doing. It was obvious from the very beginning. I needed more reciprocation from Zoe throughout the whole book. I coidnve also gone without the plot where Zoe just breaks yo with her boyfriend and a week later is with Zander? Just make her single from the very beginning.
Thank you to Morgan and her ARC team for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 24, 2023
“can i ask you a question?”
i wanted to love this book. on paper, this is the perfect book for me. it combines my favorite trope, childhood friends to lovers, with my favorite musical artist, miss taylor swift herself. the concept was my match made in heaven, but the execution left lots to be desired.
one of my major issues was this book is that despite it being advertised as part of a series, can be enjoyed as a standalone is it didn’t feel like it was a standalone? like the other characters in the book got very little insight to their personalities and stories, the main characters just discussed them as if they were people we already knew fully, because they had their own books. it also felt like the main characters were already in love when the book started, and their was an attempted will they won’t they conflict but they had already kind of said they will? idk how to describe it really, it just felt off.
my next major issue was the main characters, actually. zoe, our female lead is fine, i just wish she had more personality. she didn’t lack personality in a “she’s so boring and annoying way” it was more of a “i wish she had a personality bc she seems lovely” way. now to our male lead, zander. god i want to punch him so bad. if i ever see this man on the streets it’s over for him. he definitely felt like a teenage boy who was only 34 bc this was an adult romance. his whole thing this whole book was that he wanted to free zoe from the external control she feels in her life by being… controlling? he spent an entire chapter complaining about her having a ponytail in and ended up ripping it out. NEXT!
finally, the taylor swift references. very cute and fun- or at least they would’ve been if they weren’t soooo unserious. i’m sorry, but if you’re going to market this as the chapters are named after songs that describe their events, please make them accurate. naming a chapter after the 10 min all too well just because they’re going for a drive and she has a fuck the patriarchy key. are we serious. because that was our takeaway from all too well 10mv, right?
the entire plot of this book could’ve been resolved if she and her parents went to family therapy to work on her communication issues with them and they worked on the pressure they put on her. like maybe y’all just need to talk abt why you want her to stay in your hometown while she thinks you want her not to do that instead of sending her off with her best friend’s brother to marry her into staying there. just a thought.
moral of the story i personally would not recommend this book. if you’re a swiftie-reader combo looking for a taylor themed book and don’t mind the things i mentioned above, maybe? but overall it’s a pass for me.
**reminder that this is all in my personal taste and i was simply discussing the things i didn’t like about this. opinions will vary, and this is not a personal dig at the author or her writing**
i wanted to love this book. on paper, this is the perfect book for me. it combines my favorite trope, childhood friends to lovers, with my favorite musical artist, miss taylor swift herself. the concept was my match made in heaven, but the execution left lots to be desired.
one of my major issues was this book is that despite it being advertised as part of a series, can be enjoyed as a standalone is it didn’t feel like it was a standalone? like the other characters in the book got very little insight to their personalities and stories, the main characters just discussed them as if they were people we already knew fully, because they had their own books. it also felt like the main characters were already in love when the book started, and their was an attempted will they won’t they conflict but they had already kind of said they will? idk how to describe it really, it just felt off.
my next major issue was the main characters, actually. zoe, our female lead is fine, i just wish she had more personality. she didn’t lack personality in a “she’s so boring and annoying way” it was more of a “i wish she had a personality bc she seems lovely” way. now to our male lead, zander. god i want to punch him so bad. if i ever see this man on the streets it’s over for him. he definitely felt like a teenage boy who was only 34 bc this was an adult romance. his whole thing this whole book was that he wanted to free zoe from the external control she feels in her life by being… controlling? he spent an entire chapter complaining about her having a ponytail in and ended up ripping it out. NEXT!
finally, the taylor swift references. very cute and fun- or at least they would’ve been if they weren’t soooo unserious. i’m sorry, but if you’re going to market this as the chapters are named after songs that describe their events, please make them accurate. naming a chapter after the 10 min all too well just because they’re going for a drive and she has a fuck the patriarchy key. are we serious. because that was our takeaway from all too well 10mv, right?
the entire plot of this book could’ve been resolved if she and her parents went to family therapy to work on her communication issues with them and they worked on the pressure they put on her. like maybe y’all just need to talk abt why you want her to stay in your hometown while she thinks you want her not to do that instead of sending her off with her best friend’s brother to marry her into staying there. just a thought.
moral of the story i personally would not recommend this book. if you’re a swiftie-reader combo looking for a taylor themed book and don’t mind the things i mentioned above, maybe? but overall it’s a pass for me.
**reminder that this is all in my personal taste and i was simply discussing the things i didn’t like about this. opinions will vary, and this is not a personal dig at the author or her writing**
April 3, 2023
FELLOW SWIFTIES THAT HAVE THIS BOOK ON THEIR TBR, LISTEN👏TO👏ME👏, THIS BOOK IS NOT IT.
dnf🤡
if you would enjoy reading about a girl who's ... herself because she is horny while being next to her sleeping boyfriend/bsf's brother then GUESS WHAT? THIS BOOK IS TOTALLY PERFECT FOR YOU BECAUSE FOR ME IT WASN'T👍
not only that she did this BUT they are ALREADY DATING in the first 25% of the book. bitch what the actual fuck.
i would honestly give this book 1 star (or even 0 but goodreads does not allow me to do that) but i think it deserves 0.25-0.5 stars (weird i know) ONLY BECAUSE OF THE TAYLOR SWIFT REFERENCES. those who know me know HOW MUCH I LOVE TAYLOR and seeing so many taylor related things made my heart melt at first. the only thing this author did not mess up was the accuracy between the songs of the chapters and the context of them, i loved that.
but hell no, i am definitely not finishing this book because of those references, my time is very precious and i would like to use my time reading other books. do not recommend🤡
dnf🤡
if you would enjoy reading about a girl who's ... herself because she is horny while being next to her sleeping boyfriend/bsf's brother then GUESS WHAT? THIS BOOK IS TOTALLY PERFECT FOR YOU BECAUSE FOR ME IT WASN'T👍
not only that she did this BUT they are ALREADY DATING in the first 25% of the book. bitch what the actual fuck.
i would honestly give this book 1 star (or even 0 but goodreads does not allow me to do that) but i think it deserves 0.25-0.5 stars (weird i know) ONLY BECAUSE OF THE TAYLOR SWIFT REFERENCES. those who know me know HOW MUCH I LOVE TAYLOR and seeing so many taylor related things made my heart melt at first. the only thing this author did not mess up was the accuracy between the songs of the chapters and the context of them, i loved that.
but hell no, i am definitely not finishing this book because of those references, my time is very precious and i would like to use my time reading other books. do not recommend🤡
Want to read
April 2, 2023Just doing my swiftie duties and reading this 💚💛💜❤️💙🖤💖🤍🤎💙
April 30, 2023
the writing and characters in this book are god awful. cheesy taylor swift references(but i’m here for those!). would only recommend for swifties and even then i’m not sure if i would recommended it.
July 3, 2024
I dnf at 22%, i found it kinda boring.
March 29, 2023
fun sweet spicy read
Honestly this was a low angst fun time read. The spice was amazing and the story itself was so sweet I got a toothache. But in the best way. Zander was everything you want from a book boyfriend.
Honestly this was a low angst fun time read. The spice was amazing and the story itself was so sweet I got a toothache. But in the best way. Zander was everything you want from a book boyfriend.
July 24, 2023
-★★★★✰-
First of all, as a Swiftie, I loved the allusions she did because Taylor swift = MY WHOLE WORLD
anyway
This is the first book where I find this kind of story
I never saw a father helping a boy to make her fall in love with him.
Normally, I don't really like friends to lovers trope- but this might be my favorite one.
Their relationship was clear as crystal: they loved each other.
But I still felt bad for her. She was lost and clearly wasn't happy.
Hopefully he came along and helped her find happiness.
This book is worth the hype
First of all, as a Swiftie, I loved the allusions she did because Taylor swift = MY WHOLE WORLD
anyway
This is the first book where I find this kind of story
I never saw a father helping a boy to make her fall in love with him.
Normally, I don't really like friends to lovers trope- but this might be my favorite one.
Their relationship was clear as crystal: they loved each other.
But I still felt bad for her. She was lost and clearly wasn't happy.
Hopefully he came along and helped her find happiness.
This book is worth the hype
April 10, 2023
the time jumps at the end felt forced? not a big fan of this book but loved some ts references i guess. never trust tiktok though 😭😭
April 1, 2023
its about taylor swift songs !!!!!!! i cried my eyes out at work at the epilogue !!!!!!!!
July 10, 2024
Here’s a gem of a quote from the mmc that really sums up the quality of this relationship lmao: “I won’t tell her that when I was a teen, I wished for a chick with a fat ass to fall in love with me so I could slap it anytime I wanted.” He also asks her at the approximate 15% mark how many kids she wants.
I love Taylor Swift, like top 1% of her listeners on Spotify every year, but the constant references in the book were so cringey and forced.
I love Taylor Swift, like top 1% of her listeners on Spotify every year, but the constant references in the book were so cringey and forced.
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